Hybrid work and virtual learning drove tablet shipments to their fifth straight quarter of year-over-year unit growth in Q2, but supply constraints impeded major vendors from meeting the elevated demand, “raising questions about what the second half of the year will bring,” reported Strategy Analytics Thursday. Vendors shipped 45.2 million tablets globally in Q2, about flat compared with Q1, but up about 5% from the 2020 quarter, said SA. Apple shipped 15.8 million iPads in the quarter for 11% growth from a year earlier, and raised its market-leading global share 1.8 points to 35%, it said. Samsung, the top Android tablets vendor, shipped 8.2 million tablets for 19% year-over-year growth, raising its share 2.1 points to 18%. “If higher component and transportation costs make their way into tablet price tags as expected, the competitive environment for mobile computing devices will be intense” in 2021's second half, said SA analyst Eric Smith.

Global tablet shipments are expected to grow 1.8% in 2021, after “the stellar double-digit growth in 2020,” reaching 166.5 million units “as consumer demand remains high,” reported IDC Tuesday. Chromebook shipments are expected to grow 33.5% in 2021 to 43.4 million. The need for budget-friendly, yet versatile devices for hybrid working and learning “will be paramount and this will continue to drive demand for these devices” this year, said analyst Anuroopa Nataraj: “Beyond 2021 both categories will continue to struggle as consumer and education demand is expected to slow. With the relaxation of lockdown restrictions, consumers will begin to increase spend on travel and other modes of entertainment, which in turn will impact growth in these devices.”

Pandemic trends are stressing tablet supplies, said Strategy Analytics Thursday. There was a 44% year-on-year shipment spurt to 45.8 million units vs. Q1 2020. The top four global vendors had double-digit increases, led by Apple (16.8 million units), Samsung (8.3 million), Amazon (3.8 million) and Lenovo (3.8 million); No. 5 Huawei had a 33% drop to 2 million. A focus on productivity is part of most tablet vendor strategies, said the researcher. Even as laptop demand stays hot, Windows detachables from Microsoft, Lenovo, HP and Dell “are showing growth once again,” said analyst Chirag Upadhyay, citing use for entertainment, games and communication. Analyst Eric Smith said tablet strength should continue based on work-from-home trends “as people look beyond COVID restrictions.”

Amazon bowed its next-generation Fire HD 10 tablets Tuesday, touting faster performance from an octa-core processor, a brighter 1080p display, 50% more RAM (3 GB), a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, Dolby Atmos sound and up to 12 hours’ battery life. Starting price remains $149. The step-up HD 10 Plus ($179) has 4 GB RAM, a soft-touch finish, Qi wireless charging and the ability to transition to an Alexa smart display in “show mode,” said the company. A $219 “productivity” bundle for either tablet includes a Bluetooth keyboard with a detachable case and a 12-month Microsoft 365 subscription to Office apps and 1 TB OneDrive cloud storage. New kids’ tablets start at $199 and include a one-year subscription to Amazon's Kids+ content, said the company.

The pandemic-driven tablet market grew 19.5% to 52.2 million units in Q4, reaching levels not seen in three years, said IDC Monday. Momentum isn’t expected to hold, as the category faces “immense competition from notebooks and smartphones," said analyst Anuroopa Nataraj. Detachable tablet shipments rose 28% in the quarter and were often in direct competition with notebooks. Backlogs for PCs led some consumers to buy detachables in place of notebooks. Slate tablet shipments advanced 14% “as consumers sought ways to stay entertained” during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Apple held its category lead with 36.5% share, with 19.5% growth in the quarter, driven by the 10.2-inch iPad and 10.9-inch iPad Air. The education segment had several big Apple deployments for remote learning, IDC said. Samsung remained in second place with 19.4% share and year-over-year growth of nearly 45%, shipping 10 million units for the quarter, 31.3 million for the year. Samsung’s efforts to make Android “more productive and usable in a detachable form” enabled the company to maintain a premium over other Android competitors, it said. Lenovo shipped 5.6 million units for 121% year-on-year growth. Amazon, in fourth, had 8% growth with 3.6 million shipments.

A yearlong strategy to transform tablets into low-cost productivity tools is paying dividends during the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumers and educational institutions bought a record number of tablets during the back-to-school season, said Strategy Analytics Friday. Tablets are serving as “credible mobile computing alternatives to notebooks, even as both segments are experiencing record levels of demand in 2020,” said the research firm. Apple and Samsung led demand in a BTS season that grew 33% to a seven-year high, said SA. Apple shipped 15.1 million units in Q3, up from 10.1 million in Q3 2019; Samsung unit shipments grew 87% to 9.4 million units. Amazon was fourth, behind Huawei, with 4.9 million shipments, an 8% decline, due to the delay of Prime Day to October. Tablets are “being rightly recognized for the productivity power they provide at a lower price point than most notebooks,” while serving needs for entertainment and casual use, said analyst Eric Smith. SA sees the tablet trend continuing long-term.

Amazon refreshed its tablet lineup with new versions of the Fire HD 8, Fire HD 8 Plus and Fire HD 8 Kids Edition, it said Wednesday. Preorders began Wednesday for June 3 shipping. Updated features of the 8-inch tablets include faster performance from a 2.0 GHz quad-core processor, 32 GB internal storage, up to 12 hours’ battery life and USB-C charging. Storage is expandable up to 1 TB with a microSD card. A game mode blocks notifications for a “distraction-free” experience, it said. The step-up Fire HD 8 Plus has 64 GB RAM, wireless charging and six months of Kindle Unlimited included. The base model is $89; the Plus is $109, $139 in a bundle with an Angreat wireless charging dock. The Kids Edition ($139) bundles with a “kid-proof case,” adjustable stand, two-year guarantee and one-year free subscription to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited.

COVID-19 “furthered the decline” of the worldwide tablet market in Q1, sending as global unit shipments plunging 19.6% to 24.6 million, reported IDC Wednesday. Detachables continued to grow and gain market share, with year-over-year growth of 56.8%, mainly driven by iOS devices, while slate tablets shipments declined 36.4%. Apple, Samsung and Huawei held on to the top three market-share positions in Q1, while Lenovo leapfrogged Amazon for No. 4. Apple retained the top share, despite a 30.4% unit decline due to COVID-19-induced supply-chain disruptions.

Huawei tablet shipments grew 4 percent in Q2 from the 2018 quarter, despite Commerce Department placing Huawei on the entity list in May (see 1907050003), said a Strategy Analytics tablet report Friday. But an intensifying trade war could foreshadow a shift in Android demand “from a bruised Huawei brand to its fiercest competitors, Samsung and Lenovo,” said analyst Eric Smith. Samsung and Lenovo shipments were ahead of the industry but showed declines of minus-1 percent and minus-6 percent in a category down 7 percent year on year, said Smith. In a widening trade war, “Lenovo could be among a group of Chinese companies that are targeted by the Trump administration,” he said. Apple iPad shipments dropped 7 percent year on year in Q2 to 10.7 million units, to 29 percent market share. New iPad Air and iPad mini tablets pushed average selling prices higher alongside continued strong demand for iPad Pro; ASPs grew year on year from $410 to $469, SA said. Bucking the trend, Amazon had 38 percent higher tablet shipments in Q2 to 2 million units, behind Apple (10.7 million), Samsung (4.9 million) and Huawei (3.9 million), it said. Trailing Apple’s 29 percent market share were Samsung (13 percent), Huawei (10 percent), Amazon (5.4 percent) and Lenovo (5 percent).

Fierce price competition put intense pressure on many Android tablet vendors, while Apple, Huawei and Amazon gained share in Q1, Strategy Analytics reported Wednesday. Promotional discounts fueled Amazon’s post-holiday quarter, pushing shipments 21 percent higher year on year. Huawei had 8 percent growth, primarily in China and Europe, Middle East and Africa, said analyst Eric Smith. Most Windows detachable 2-in-1 vendors are targeting the premium enterprise market, a crowded space made more competitive by the launch of three Apple iPad Pro models this year. Market share for Windows tablets slipped a point to 14 percent, and shipments dropped 13 percent to 5 million units, said analyst Chirag Upadhyay. Apple’s Q1 iOS tablet shipments grew 9 percent to 9.9 million, for 27 percent market share, a 3-point bump, said Smith, and average selling price for the iPad Pro line grew to $490 from $451.